


Soulmates through Time

by MiriamMT



Series: Gallavich OneShots (no smut) [54]
Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ancient Greece, Alternate Universe - Renaissance, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Aphrodite Ships It, Domestic Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Falling In Love, First Crush, First Meetings, Fluff, Forbidden Love, Greek Mythology - Freeform, Ian Gallagher Loves Mickey Milkovich, Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich Happy Ending, Love, Love Confessions, Love at First Sight, M/M, Married Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich, Mickey Milkovich Loves Ian Gallagher, Reincarnation, Soulmates, it's really fucking soft, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-30
Updated: 2020-06-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:01:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24455602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiriamMT/pseuds/MiriamMT
Summary: Ian and Mickey are soulmates. Two thousand years ago the innocent love of two Greek boys touched a goddess so much, that she let them meet again and again through time until they would finally be happy.This is not your classic words-on-skin-soulmate story, but the story of true love conquiring time.Gallavich through the AgesAncient Greece1580's EuropeNow
Relationships: Ian Gallagher/Mickey Milkovich
Series: Gallavich OneShots (no smut) [54]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1525730
Comments: 11
Kudos: 124





	1. Ancient Greece

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Greek Mythology. The main reason I started this little project was to write about the couple in 1580's Europe (I explain why in the next chapter) but I wouldn't miss out on the chance of writing about them in Ancient greece too.

**Iros and Megareus**

Iros and Megareus lived on the isle of Crete, under king Minos. The two boys lived in neighbouring houses by the shore. Iros’ father was a fisherman and Megareus’ father owned sheep, whose wool was not worthy of king Minos, but good enough for the poor people living under his rule.

Iros and Megareus were not friends by any means, when Megareus had to look after the sheep, Iros and his brothers would come to scare them and lead them off the high cliffs into the ocean.

It was a hot day and Megareus sat in the grass and watched his sheep browsing the fresh grass. He looked up at the sky to the clouds, he wondered how far the Olympus must be from here and if one of the gods would ever recognise his presence or if he would live and die unseen.

Megareus was lost in thought when he heard one of his sheep bleak in distress. He looked up and could see from his place the rare reddish hair, which could only belong to the fisherman’s son.

Megareus jumped up from his spot and ran to the boy.  
“You! Take your hands off my sheep!”  
Iros looked up surprised and jumped away from the animal.  
“You and your stupid brothers are responsible for the loss of three of them over the last moons!”, he yelled at him and walked towards him, causing Iros to stepping back further, until he stood at the edge of the cliff, which went unnoticed by Megareus.

The shepherd’s son was filled with anger over the fisherman’s children and he wanted to punch the redhaired boy with his fist, when Iros lost his balance and fell back. Megareus gasped.

The older boy bit his lip, he did not want Iros to fall!  
He crouched down at the edge of the cliff and looked down – there hung Iros, holding on to a crevice. He looked up at him.

“Help me!”, he called up to him, “Please help me!”, he tried to find some balance with his feet on the stone.

Megareus nodded, “Wait there! Don’t move!”  
“I didn’t plan to!”  
Megareus had a rope with him whenever he went up here, his brother once also almost fell from the cliff and they were lucky to have a rope to rescue him.

Megareus tied the rope around biggest sheep and then let the other end down to Iros.  
“Hold on to it!”, he called down to him, “Don’t let go.”

He sat down by the cliff and put his foot against a heavy stone, too the middle part of the rope and told the sheep to walk.

The sheep and Megareus pulled Iros back up. For the last bit Megareus gave him his hand and pulled him up to him. Megareus fell on his back and Iros landed on top of him with a “Ow”

The two boys looked at each other, it was the first time they were close enough to each other to see the other one’s eyes so clearly, they could compare them to the wilderness right beside them. To the rich green of the grass next to them and the deep blue of the ocean to their feet.

“Mighty Aphrodite”, Iros whispered.  
“What?”, Megareus asked.

Iros blinked a few times and recollected himself, “Thanks for the rescue”, he said, still not moving away from on top of him.   
“I’m sorry you almost fell because of me.”  
“I’m sorry about the sheep.” 

Megareus nodded, he looked up at him and wondered if he would ever go down from him again… but he did not know if he wanted his body removed from his yet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After this small adventure Iros often visited Megareus while he was up on the cliff with the sheep.

Several weeks later, Iros came later than usual. The sun was not as high upon the sky anymore and Megareus had to leave soon.

Iros came running up to him and landed down next to him in the soft grass.  
“I thought you would not come anymore”, Megareus admitted and smiled at the friend.  
Iros shook his head, “I was meeting Nestor, he needed more time today.”

“Nestor?”, Megareus asked, Iros had never mentioned that friend.  
“Yes, he took an interest in me. He teaches me how to shoot with bow and arrow, how to hunt and to talk to the richer people.”  
Megareus looked down at the redhaired boy, who now had his head in Meagreus’ lap and looked at a small flower he had picked from the grass.

“He’s your _erastês?_ I thought they only do that in Athene”  
“No, not only in Athene, although Nestor is from Athene. They only do this in the upper class usually, so my father says my relationship to Nestor will help our family. And with all the skills I learn I will be successful later.”

“Huh”, Megareus looked down at Iros, “If they only do it in the upper class, why did he choose you then?”  
“He said, I am the most beautiful boy in Crete.”  
Megareus smiled, “I suppose you are.”, he ran his hand through Iros’ reddish hair, “And when he’s not teaching you how to shoot arrows, what does he do?”  
“He puts his parts between my thighs and rubs himself until his seeds shoot out.”

Megareus pulled a face, “Your thighs?”  
“Yes. It’s very boring for me.”  
“I’ve heard, when men do it to each other they put it in the bottom of one.”, Megareus looked up at the sky.  
“No, that’s only how the prostitutes and slaves do it.”  
“But thighs? That does not give you anything, does it?”  
“I guess it is not supposed to give me anything.”

“Well, no rich Athene man will ever take such interest in me”, Megareus said, “But at least no one is sticking their parts between my thighs either.”  
Iros laughed and reached his hand up to his curly black hair.  
“Why would no one take such an interest in you?”

Megareus shrugged, “Because Aphrodite didn’t grand me your beauty.”  
Iros sat up, “You’re talking nonsense, Meg… I think you’re the most beautiful boy in Crete, after me, that is.”  
Megareus laughed, “Yeah, right”, he shook his head and then looked at Iros’ face “No, I’m not special, not like you… your hair looks like Hephaistos flames and your freckles are brought down from the night sky by the gods themselves, and when you smile Helios’ sun shines brighter to live up to you”

Megareus blushed deeply at his own words and looked away from him, over the edge of the cliff to the blue sea.

“Megareus”, the boy said to him, “I have to disagree. You are special. When I look at you, I see beauty that can only come from the gods. Your eyes look like Poseidon put the whole ocean into them, so everybody can see his realm whenever they look at you.”, he pushed Megareus into the grass and leaned over him so he could look into his face, “I am sure, Aphrodite herself put you in my reach, so I can direct all the love I have to give in my life towards you”

“Do not make fun of me, Iros”  
“I’m not, I swear… I love you, Meg”  
“I love you, too, Iros. With everything I have”

Iros smiled down at his friend and leaned down to kiss him. They kissed softly in the grass between the sheep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iros and Megareus spent their time together with kissing and talking about their love and about the world, as if it were only made to be looked at by them. It was a pure love, which could not be supressed nor hidden and yet it was easy to keep secret because it was just between them. It built a bubble around them, keeping them in happiness, blind for the real world around them.

Until one evening Megareus’ father burst that bubble, by wanting to marry him off to a young weaver, the daughter of a man selling finest threads and fabrics, also to the King. The man said, his son would only marry Megareus’ sister, if Megareus married his daughter in return. Megareus begged his father to not make him marry her, but it was no use.

The next day Megareus cried to his lover.  
“You can just refuse”, Iros said and tried to calm him.  
“I can’t. He wants that my sister marries their son, and they only let them, if I marry that girl. He said he wants grandchildren from me, Iros. I don’t want to make children with a girl I don’t even know.”

Iros ran his hand through Megareus’ black hair.

“Our love was sent to us by the goddess of love herself, I have faith in that”, Iros said, “She will safe us from this.”  
“How?”  
“I don’t know. But we will make her presents and pray to her and then… then she will help us. She is a goddess, your father must listen to her.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At sunset the next evening, Iros and Megareus met at the cliff. They brought all kinds of presents for Aphrodite and her children. They held each other’s hands and started praying for Aphrodite to come down and help them, since their love must have been a blessing my her.

A figure came walking up the hill to them to the cliff.  
The two boys did not notice them at first, but when they came to see them, The took a step back out of reverence and surprise.

“A goddess stands before you and you do not even bow?”, the woman addressed them, she looked at them, her hair a reddish-blonde colour, her eyes big and blue, her skin looked like marble and her effortless beauty had almost the same effect as Medusa’s eyes.

Iros and Megareus kneeled in front of the human-shaped goddess.  
“I heard your prayers, I received your presents, say, do you not have a temple of me on this isle?”  
“We do, beautiful Aphrodite, but you blessed us with your love on this very cliff.”  
Aphrodite looked around, “I sure did, get back up. Where are the sheep? Whenever I looked at you, there were sheep here.”  
“They are sleeping”, Megareus said.  
“Why?”  
“Because… it’s night.”  
“I like the sheep”, she said, “They gave the whole picture something cute… like white balls of clouds.”

Aphrodite looked back at them and dropped the topic of the missing sheep.  
“So, what do you want from me?”  
“We need your help, mighty Aphrodite”, Iros said, “Megareus’ father wants him to marry a woman. But we love each other. They want to rip us apart.”

Aphrodite sighed, “Typical, they’re always taking away my favourite toys”, the goddess said and looked up at the sky, “If I find out who caused this mess you better look out for me up there!”

“So… can you help us?”, Iros asked.  
She looked back at them and exhaled deeply, “Unfortunately not, no.”, she shook her head, “I gave you the strongest love I know how to form. There is nothing more I can do.”

Megareus let his head hang low, he turned around and leaned against Iros, leaning into his arms.  
Iros hugged him tightly and kissed his temple.

Aphrodite looked at the two of them, her favourite couple of all those she had formed herself. They had been meant to be since their birth, she had watched them grow up, side by side, until the perfect moment came and she let them fall in love on that day, right here at this cliff.

“There might be a way”, she said eventually.  
The two looked at her again, hope in their eyes.

“I can’t do anything for the two of you in this time… but your descendants shall always find each other and feel the same love you do now, until one day you will be back together and be able to be united until your death. You will be born again and again until your love story is complete. Because love”, she made a step towards them and put a hand on each one’s cheek, “If it’s the right love, is strong enough to conquer time.”

Megareus looked up at Iros and back to Aphrodite, “Do you know when we will find each other in those lives? How many lives do we have to live until we can be happy?”  
Aphrodite sighed, “I don’t know. A thousand years? Maybe two”

Iros looked at his lover, “I will love you the same as I do now in a thousand years, Meg, even in two. I would rather be together with you until we die then, than see you in another’s arms now.”  
Megareus nodded and looked back to the goddess, “What do we have to do?”

“Die”, she said, “Unfortunately, this divine love will only find you again, if you sacrifice yourself now, here at this cliff.”  
“You mean… jump?”  
“Yes. Die together now, so you can live together in another life.”

Iros took Megareus hands in his and looked into his blue ocean eyes.  
“Do you want to do this?”  
“I do”, he said, “And you?”  
He nodded, “I do.”

They kissed one last time and Aphrodite in secret blessed their union like a marriage.  
The two lovers went to the edge of the cliff, holding hands. They looked at each other again and even smiled, before jumping down the cliff into the sharp rocks at the bottom under the blue water.


	2. 1580's Europe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As some of you may know, I study English Linguistics & Literature at University. I have a course called "Early Gothic Fiction by women writers" and we're reading "The Mysteries of Udolpho" by Ann Radcliff, which was written in 17th century England but set in 1580's France/Italy. I wrote this piece mainly to become more familiar with the writing style. 
> 
> I know Ian's family is Irish, but to this time Irland was under attack by the Brits, so in 1580 they were Scottish.  
> And Ukraine didn't exist, where Ukraine is today back then was Polen-Lithauen, so here Mick is French.

**Ian and Mathieu**

The McGallen’s where a noble family from Scotland.  
Ian McGallen and his brother Phillip were traveling through Europe, hoping to experience the fine cuisine of France and Italy, see the sublime of the Alpes and indulge in the culture of the countries far from their island.

They travelled in their carriage for hours, watching the nature go by from the window and lose themselves in all kinds of daydreams about a live in the soft French villages. Ian let the carriage stop a few times when he had spotted a flower or a leaf particularly beautiful to him. He put all those little nature pieces between the pages of his heavy books.

“Say, what do plan with all those leaves and flowers?”, Phillip asked.  
“One day”, Ian said while placing a small white flower into a book, “I will meet someone during our travels and I will give her all these presents, because she will be as beautiful as the nature herself.”

“And what do you plan to do with that girl once you found her? Will you bring her home to our parents for marriage?”  
Ian shrugged and just smiled at his collection, “That is not for me to say. Fate will decide over my future.”

In the evening they stopped at an Inn in a small French town. The owner of the inn, an older Frenchman, was not used to guests with Scottish name and clean, expensive looking clothes. He summoned his sons at once. One was supposed to help the muleteer with his mules and the carriage outside, and the other one was supposed to show the brothers their best rooms.

The son, Mathieu, did not look the Englishmen in the eyes, to not deem disrespectful, and led them to their chambers.  
“Do you wish to dine in the common room downstairs, or should I bring you supper to your chambers?”, he asked in French.

“Downstairs will be fine. We want to experience the common French life, too. Don’t you agree, brother?”, Phillip said with an excited smile on his face.  
“I suppose so.”, Ian nodded.  
“Then you will experience such, because the kitchen did not expect noblemen as guests”, Mathieu explained, “I will make sure the best table is available then”  
“Yes, Merci”, Ian said to him and smiled at him, which the boy couldn’t see because he still didn’t dare to look at their faces.

While they were having supper and later held conversation with some drunk Frenchmen in the Inn, Ian could not stop looking over at Mathieu. The boy had something on him that made it hard to look away from him. There was a strange familiarity in his features, in the way he moved from one table to the next just to vanish in what seemed to be the kitchen again.

Ian could barely uphold the conversation with his brother and the drunk Frenchmen because he wanted to get a glance at the boys face, but he had no luck.

The same evening, Ian asked his brother to stay in the Inn for a few more days than planned.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Ian awakened before sunrise. He had a sleepless night behind him, which was filled with vivid dreams of a beautiful dark-haired boy and sheep. But he had forgotten the dream as soon as he had opened his eyes again.

Unable to find sleep again, he decided to go about his day and walk around in the little town before it would be busy with people going about their work.

When he was dressed, he took one of his books and climbed down the stairs, he heard a soft humming from somewhere.  
The melody was of a calming beauty like Ian had never heard it before. Unable to resist his curiosity, he followed the humming.

He was led into the kitchen of the inn, where Mathieu was kneading dough for bread. He was the one humming the melody.

“Hey”, Ian said softly. Mathieu looked up at him surprised and Ian could finally see his face properly. Mathieu bit his bottom lip and wiped his hands on his apron.  
“Are you looking for breakfast, Monsieur?”  
Ian shook his head, “I… I guess I was looking for you”, he smiled at the boy and went over to him.  
“Is there a problem I can help you with?”

“No…”, Ian shook his head, “Since yesterday I just wanted to look at your face, but you never looked up until now”   
Mathieu lowered his head, “My father said, I should not look the noblemen in the eyes, it would be disrespectful.”  
Ian smiled, “It’s not disrespectful. It would be if you were ugly, but you’re not.”

Mathieu smiled lightly but still looked down.

Ian was astonished by the effortless beauty the man displayed, even though, or maybe because, he was covered in flour. He had the looks of peasant boy, but he deemed him more beautiful and valuable than any upper class woman ever did. He was a beautiful flower in the midst of dark grass, roots, and weeds.

“I want to give you something”, Ian said.  
Mathieu looked up at him now, curious what a noble Scotsman had to give to a dirty French peasant boy.

“It’s not the present of a nobleman, I suppose”, he said and opened his book to pick out one of his most beautiful nature pieces, “But at the same time it’s one of the most valuable presents I can make you”

He held the small flower out to the boy. Mathieu took the flower from him confused, he looked at the small, dried nature piece.

“Thank you”, he said to Ian still looking at the flower, then he smiled, “It is beautiful”  
Ian smiled, pleased with himself for picking out the right flower for the right person.

“So, is that what noblemen do with their time? You put flowers between pages of books?”  
Ian laughed, “No, not all. My brother does not understand why I do it.”  
“Why do you do it, if I may ask?”  
“Because I like to surround myself with the beautiful. And because they make beautiful presents for beautiful people, I deem worthy of them.”

A smile and a blush appeared on Mathieu’s face and he turned back to the dough, he had originally been working on, to hide both from Ian. He let the flower sink into the pocket of his apron.

“I want to take a stroll through the town”, Ian announced, “Do you want to keep me company? You could show me the places one needs to know around here.”  
“I don’t think there are lot of places one needs to know around here. And I suppose none of them would be worthy of a nobleman’s eye.”   
“I want to see every place you deem unworthy of me, from experience they are the most exciting ones.”

Mathieu looked up at him, “I’m sorry, but I can’t. I have to prepare the breakfast and clean the common room.”  
“Oh”, Ian mumbled and looked around, of course the peasant boy had to work, he could not just stroll around the town like he could, “I guess I will leave you to your tasks then.”

He turned around and slowly left the kitchen.

“Tonight”, Mathieu said before Ian could leave the kitchen, “I have time tonight, my brother has to clean the kitchen and I have no work once everyone has dined.”  
Ian turned around to him with a wide smile spreading over his freckles cheeks.  
“I will be waiting by the stables.”, he said  
Mathieu smiled and nodded, and Ian left the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At night, after his father finally dismissed him, Mathieu finally came out to the stables where he met Ian by the mules which brought him here.

“Bonsoir”, Mathieu said to gain his attention.  
Ian turned around to the boy and looked at him in awe for a moment. He was dressed in clean clothes and his hair was combed, he had made an effort to look decent enough to walk around the small French town with Ian.

They walked through the narrow alleys and Mathieu had an anecdote for every corner they rounded, and Ian could listen to him for hours.

“I must have bored you half to death my stories”, Mathieu said eventually when the church bell in the distance announced midnight.  
“You did no such thing, I enjoyed every second I got to listen to you.”  
Mathieu smiled at him and shyly looked up at the sky, “There is one more place I can show you if you want. The only place I would deem worthy of your eyes.”  
“Lead the way”

Mathieu led him to a hill by the forest. The last tree up here was a high oak tree, it had a wooden platform in its crown.  
“Do they only teach you noblemen how to speak French or also how to climb trees?”, Mathieu smirked.  
Ian smiled, “I used to climb the trees in our garden all the time, my mother always scolded me for it.”

They climbed the tree until they sat on the small platform. They looked over the small town and the soft hills of the French landscape, the night sky with its thousand stars, which resembled Ian’s freckles.  
“When I was a child”, Mathieu said, “My parents and brothers built this and we would sit here often and look at the stars.”

Ian looked up at the sky too and then back at Mathieu.  
“I read many books about the stars, but the words and theories can never compare to their actual picture.” 

Mathieu smiled at him, “How come you and your brother speak such perfect French?”  
“Growing up we got taught French and Italian, we had to read the classic tales, the Greek myths and English poetry. We barely ever had time to look at the stars at night…”  
“I would rather be able to read than to look at the stars all the time.”

Ian looked at him surprised, “You can’t read?”  
Mathieu shook his head, “What for? We cannot even afford books. I also do not speak another language and never travelled further than the next village. I only know the work of the Inn. My mother taught me cooking and baking.”

Ian smiled, “A French peasant baker of divine beauty… I feel like you came straight out of one of my books.”  
Mathieu looked at him, “Do I?”, he asked curiously.  
Ian nodded and smiled, he took one of his books out of his jacket pocket and opened at a random page, where he took out another flower, he gave it to Mathieu.

“This flower is as beautiful as you.”  
Mathieu took the flower and smiled shily at him, Ian scooted closer to him and showed him the page he had opened, it was a French book.  
“Here, I teach you how to read this sentence, it reminds me of you.”

He read the sentence about a French baker, who was of such beauty that every woman fell for him on first sight and showed him how to read each letter and each word.

Mathieu looked up at him, “This reminds you of me?”  
Ian nodded, “No woman’s beauty ever captured me like yours. I have been waiting to meet someone like you, it is the reason I went traveling with my brother.”

Mathieu bit his bottom lip and lowered his head.  
“Mathieu, chéri, don’t tell me you don’t feel it too”, Ian put the book away and took his hands in his, “I was not able to take my eyes off of you since the first time I saw you. You have to feel the same”

Mathieu took his hands away from him, “It is forbidden. They would throw us in a prison or- or cut our head off with the Guillotine!”  
“They only use the guillotine on the aristocracy.”, he put a hand on his cheek, “If you would be a woman, I would ask your father for your hand and take you back to my family.”  
“But I’m not a woman and because of that this cannot be.”  
“But you feel it too”, Ian concluded.

Mathieu looked at him, Ian’s hand still on his cheek.  
“That is irrelevant.”  
“I disagree, it is the only thing that has any relevance for me. Chéri, if I cannot be with you in marriage, at least let me kiss you one time so I can feel real love once.”

Mathieu bit his bottom lip.   
“Only one”, he agreed.

Ian smiled and cupped his cheeks, he leaned closer to him and put his lips on his. Mathieu closed his eyes and leaned against Ian, he was still holding the flower in his hand. He felt emotions rising in him that were yet unknown to him.

When Ian leaned back again, Mathieu followed him, unwilling to stop kissing him yet.  
Ian smiled at him, “Another one?”, he whispered.  
Mathieu nodded, “Yes, please”

Ian smiled and kissed him again, Mathieu put his hand against his cheek.  
Mathieu’s lips were chapped and dry, his hands rough from a life full of work – but Ian had never felt a feeling more soft than the love spreading through his soul while kissing the French boy.

They separated again after a few minutes, Ian looked at his face in the dark, illuminated by the full moon above them.  
“What are you doing to me?”, Mathieu whispered, “You make me unable to resist you, do they teach you magic too in Scotland?”  
Ian smiled and shook his head, “I don’t control magic, Chéri.”  
“So, it must be love then?”  
“Yes, it must be love then.”, Ian stroked a loose strand of hair behind Mathieu’s ear, “You most beautiful of all flowers. Can I kiss you again?”  
Mathieu nodded blushing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next evening Ian and Phillip sat in the common room of the Inn and Ian admired his collection of nature pieces in his book. When he saw Mathieu was close enough to hear them, he pulled a flower out of the book and showed them to his brother, “You see this one? It’s the most beautiful one, the queen among my collection”, he said proudly, “I will give it to the one person I know I will always love more than life itself.”

“Did you find her yet?”, Phillip asked.  
“Maybe”, Ian shrugged and smiled to himself while putting the flower away.  
“I don’t think you will find her here, you should not look for her here, we will leave soon. I do not understand why you insisted on staying here for so long. I don’t find the charm of a simple French town as enchanting as you, I suppose.”  
“I would call that a lack in cultural understanding and appreciation.”, Ian smirked and looked at Mathieu again.

When the brothers went upstairs to their chambers, Ian caught Mathieu in a corner of the Inn, unseen by the other guests.  
“Come to my room tonight”, he whispered to him.

Ian stayed up all night waiting for his lover.  
Finally, around midnight a soft knocking came from the door. Ian smiled and went to the door to let Mathieu in.

“Finally, and I thought you would have forgotten me after all.”  
Mathieu shook his head and smiled softly, “I will never again be able to forget you”

Ian shut the door and took Mathieu’s hand to pull him further into the chamber.  
“And that will eventually be my downfall”, Mathieu finished his sentence.  
“Why?”, Ian asked confused.  
“Because you will leave.”, he looked up into his eyes.

Ian sighed and cupped his cheeks, “I will have too, yes. But only physically, my heart stays with you.”  
“What good does your heart do me without you? First, you kiss me and enchant me and then you leave and let me heartbroken and alone.”

Ian let go off him and sat down on his bed, he took the book from his bedside table and took out the flower he had shown to his brother earlier, he held it up to Mathieu.  
“I love you. I will never love someone like I love you, Mathieu… I would stay here with you in the Inn just to always be with you”  
“If you do, they will beat us and throw us into a prison… kill us even.”

Ian lowered his hand with the flower, “You want me to leave, then?”  
Mathieu looked down at Ian, torn deep inside of him between love and fear.

He closed his eyes when a tear rolled down his cheek, he sat down next to Ian on his bed and took the flower from him, accepting the innocent present.  
Ian looked at him and wiped the tear from his face with his thumb. He leaned in and kissed him softly.

“I want to make love to you, tonight”, Ian whispered. Mathieu leaned back and looked at him with wide eyes, “Let be united with you in every way before I have to leave you.”  
“You can’t make love to me, I’m not a woman”  
“I am aware of that, I want you as a man, Chéri. I want to make love to the man I love, and I can never have in an official way, in a proper way. But I want you in this way, to be united with you, so I can keep your memory sacred all my life.”

Mathieu looked at his face, the freckles that looked like stars, the green eyes, his enchanting beauty, which held him captive in a dream land where their love was the only thing that mattered.

“Okay”, Mathieu whispered and started opening his clothes.  
Ian smiled and helped him taking off his clothes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After making love for hours, the two men lay in bed next to each other naked. Mathieu lay on his stomach and Ian smiled and ran his fingers over his back, over his soft, white skin.  
“You’re so beautiful. I will never call another person beautiful ever again because they will never compare to you.”

Mathieu smiled at him and took the French book from Ian’s bedside table, he gave it to Ian, “Teach me”, he whispered, “If I can read, you can send me letters from wherever you are and you can send me all the nature pieces you find on your travels.”

Ian smiled and took the book. He kissed his cheek and started teaching him the letters and the words, taught him all the words he would sent to him from afar.

And over the years he sent him many letters and even received some when he was back in Scotland, Mathieu’s writing became better over the years. And Ian sent him letters with flowers he picked in Scotland.

But he never saw him again.


	3. Now

2004

Ian Gallagher was in third grade. It had been a hectic morning, because of his mom who happened to be back home right now.  
The teacher was writing away on the board and Ian looked through his backpack looking for his pencils.

He cursed himself when he realised, he must have forgotten his pencils.  
He looked around, there was a new kid in his class, he was held back and now sat in front of him. Ian leaned over his table and poked his shoulder.

“Hey”, he whispered to the kid, “Can I borrow a pencil?”  
He turned around to him, “If you ever talk to me again, I’ll stab you!”, he growled and turned back to the blackboard.

Ian bit his lip, the older boy intimidated him, and Ian didn’t dare do ask someone else again.  
But suddenly the kid slammed a pencil down on Ian’s table.

Ian started smiling.  
“Thanks”, he mumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

2011

Mickey saw Ian Gallagher often when he went to the Kash’n’Grab. He didn’t know why he went back to that store in particular all the time. There was something… someone who made him come back all the time.

He had no idea what it was, why he was coming back all the time. But he was always drawn to the store when the redheaded Gallagher was working. He didn’t conclude that it might be because of that guy.

He only came to that conclusion, when he was woken up one day in his room and the first thing, he heard was his voice, the first thing he saw was his face, well, and the tire iron in his hands.

Ian demanded the gun back Mickey had stolen from the store and they started a fight. They pretty much threw and shoved each other through the room until Mickey had pinned Ian down on the bed. He sat on his chest, the crowbar in his hand.

He looked down at him and Ian looked up at him, they panted and looked each other in the eyes.  
Mickey couldn’t stop looking at him, at his face, his eyes. He had a strange familiarity to him which wouldn’t let him go.

Mickey let the crowbar fall to the ground. He didn’t want to hurt him, in fact everything in him strived against hurting the boy… instead he wanted to be close to him, as close as possible. He was overwhelmed by all the feelings raining down on him.

He sat back, let Ian go from underneath him and as if thinking the same things, both took off their clothes. Mickey put the unknown feelings away as just being horny, but something inside of him knew that he would never be able to resist Ian again after giving in to him now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now

Mickey sat on the Gallagher couch, looking through a bunch of movies Ian and he could watch. The Gallagher came from the kitchen with popcorn and beer, he sat down next to him.

“And? Could you finally decide?”, Ian asked.  
“No”, Mickey sighed and looked at him. It’s been a few weeks since they had finally gotten married and Mickey sometimes still couldn’t believe it. He finally had reassurance that this between them would be forever. Illness, Prison, Mexico – nothing of it mattered, in the end they were together.

Ian smiled at him, “What?”, he chuckled when Mickey just kept looking at him like he was some kind of piece of art.

Mickey smiled and leaned to him to kiss him, he put one hand on the back of Ian’s head. Ian kissed him back, pulling his husband closer by the waist.

“Got it”, Ian whispered when they separated again, “You don’t want to watch a movie, you want to fuck.”  
Mickey smiled, “No, we can watch a movie first if you insist. And we shouldn’t fuck on the couch again after Debbie made such a scene the last time, she caught us.”

“What was the kiss for then?”, he smiled softly and ran his hand through Mickey’s hair.  
“Can’t I kiss my husband?”  
“It wasn’t the normal kind of kiss, it was a special kiss.”, Ian said, he had the crazy idea that he could remember the slightest changes in Mickey’s kisses and draw conclusions about his mood from it. Most of the time, he was completely right.

Mickey shrugged, “I’m happy”  
“Happier than usual? Did we win the lottery and I didn’t notice?”  
Mickey shook his head, “Don’t make fun of me… but ever since we got married, I feel like… like I accomplished something big in my life. Like it was a goal I tried to archive for a hundred years. I’m finally where I wanted to be since the day, I met you. It’s crazy stupid but… that’s what it feels like.”

Ian smiled down at him softly and lay down on the couch, he pulled Mickey down on top of him.  
“I feel the same strange way.”, he whispered, “It is like we can finally leave the past behind and just concentrate of our future… together. It’s a nice feeling. And if you would have told me, I would be feeling like this, I would have married you the first chance I got.”  
“Yeah, shit, I forgot that as an argument when you left me at the altar”  
“It was city hall not the altar. It doesn’t matter now, I married you after all and I’m not giving you back.”

Mickey grinned down at him and kissed him, then he lay down on Ian’s chest and listened to his heartbeat.  
“Just turn on the TV and let us watch some old reruns”, he mumbled.  
“In a minute, you gotta enjoy this moment with me first.”, Ian insisted, “Be quiet.”  
“You’re a love drunk moron sometimes.”  
“You knew what you were getting into. Now just enjoy the moment.”  
Mickey smiled and closed his eyes while listening to his heartbeat. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End  
> Yes, this was very short.  
> But if you want to read Gallavich in yet another age, I could try writing another part. I'm just not really a history junkie and trying to write in the style of a time period I know nothing about is hard, and it takes some research about which country was in which situation and how they could have met.


End file.
